Innovate Finance, the industry body for UK FinTech, has released its latest figures on UK FinTech investment – and where it sits on the global stage.
In Brief:
Total investment into UK FinTechs rose more than 217% to a total of $11.6bn in 2021.
This was almost half of a total $23.4bn invested across Europe.
The UK was second only to the US which took $46bn in FinTech investment.
What does this mean?
In 2021, both the Kalifa and Lord Hill reviews outlined the importance of supporting businesses as they scale and improving the UK’s listing environment so that more companies, especially FinTechs, can make their stock exchange debut in London. At present there is a risk of companies scaling to a certain point in the UK then turning to another country, such as the US, for their IPO.
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, said:
“There is now a clear regulatory roadmap for strengthening FinTech in the UK, and both FinTechs and investors are taking note of that.
“We have historically always been a leader in financial services and innovation – and the regulatory environment we have created is crucial to ensuring we cement that position.”
It was also noted that while London unsurprisingly took the lion’s share of investment, investment in other regions of the UK is also on the rise - $696mn has been invested outside London and the South East, which is $490mn more than 2020.
